1. Field of the Invention
Disclosed herein are nanoparticle compositions and methods for treating onychomycosis, including stabilized multi-component anti-fungal nanoparticle compositions for treating onychomycosis and methods for making and using such compositions.
2. Relevant Technology
Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the fingernail or toenail. These infections can range from mild but annoying to painful and inflamed. For some, such as those who are immunocompromised (e.g., due to medication, AIDS, diabetes, cancer, leukemia, or cancer treatment), an untreated infection can progress to a serious and even life threatening state. Additionally, such infections can negatively affect one's desired appearance and can lead to cosmetic concerns, with infected nails becoming thick, brittle, and discolored, with the potential for permanent damage to the infected nails. Further, some who have onychomycosis may also suffer from associated skin rashes, lesions, or other dermal irritations as a result of an allergic reaction to the fungus underlying the onychomycosis.
Treatment of onychomycosis is typically carried out by eliminating the underlying microbial cause of the condition. Fungi that are typically associated with onychomycosis include dermatophytes, yeasts such as Candida albicans, and nondermatophytic molds. However, antifungal therapy is often difficult, owing to the fact that fungi are eukaryotic organisms that do not respond to antibiotics, limiting the number of compounds useful against the underlying fungi. In addition, the infection is typically embedded deep within the nail, making it difficult to provide contact of the treatment compound to the infection. Also, because nail growth is relatively slow, it may take an extended period of time (e.g., up to a year or more in some cases) for older, infected portions of the nail to move to a location where treatment is more feasible. For treatments that must typically be applied daily, if not more frequently, compliance over such an extended period of time becomes extremely difficult. In some cases, removal of all or part of the nail may be recommended or required, which can be painful to the patient.
Accordingly, there has been and remains a need to find reliable treatments for use in treating onychomycosis. Such treatments should be able to reliably kill or deactivate the underlying fungal infection causing the disease without causing unnecessary pain or undue harm to the organism being treated (e.g., human or animal).